Under_The_Whispering_Door_by_TJ_Klune

CHAPTER
19
Acceptance.
It was easier than Wallace had expected.
Whatever he’d felt before he’d met the Manager, whatever he’d resigned
himself to, it hadn’t been like this.
His head was clear.
He didn’t think it was peace he was feeling, at least not yet. He was still
scared. Of course he was. The unknown always brought fear. His life, what
there was of it, had been strictly regimented. He woke up. He took a shower.
He dressed. He drank two cups of terrible coffee. He went to work. He met
with the partners. He met with clients. He went to court. He’d never been one
for theatrics. Just the facts, ma’am. He felt comfortable in front of a judge. In
front of opposition. Most times he won. Sometimes he didn’t. There were
highs and lows, setbacks and victories. The day would be long gone by the
time he went home. He’d eat a frozen dinner in front of the television. If he
was feeling particularly indulgent, he’d have a glass of wine. Then he’d go
into his home office and work until midnight. When he finished, he’d take
another shower before going to bed.
Day after day after day.
It was the life he knew. The life he was comfortable with, the one he’d
made for himself. Even after Naomi had left and it felt like everything was
crumbling, he held it all together by sheer force of will. It was her loss, he’d
told himself. It was her fault.
He’d accepted it.
“You’re a white man,” his assistant told him at the office Christmas party,
her cheeks flushed from one too many Manhattans. “You’ll fail up. You
always do.”